Eliot Spencer
History There is more to Eliot Spencer than meets the eye. Little is known about his past or what exactly he does. Eliot's role on the team is as support and occasional front man and team muscle. But not dumb muscle. Behind Eliot's "aw shucks" facade lies a razor sharp mind and zen-like demeanor. Eliot is a skilled fighter in numerous forms of fighting styles. Eliot usually doesn't start fights, but will finish them. Guns? Eliot doesn't use them or need them. Eliot has shown numerous skills and knowledge when the opportunity allows it. A talented gourmet chef, Eliot grows his own food. While not an actor like Sophie, Eliot can blend into his roles easily. Eliot has worked alone for years, but has slowly grown to trust being on a team. Eliot's relationship with the team varies. He respects Nate as a leader, has a friendly rivalry with Hardison, and with Parker, while her behavior perplexes him, he trusts her to do the job. Eliot is someone you want watching your back. Skills *Numerous Fighting Styles *Fixer (often working backup in the con to clean up messes, either physically or in execution, or in a supporting role to the "Inside Man"), he can play the "Inside Man" but leaves that job to Sophie Devereaux. *Survival in Hostile Environments *Gourmet Chef *Varied Knowledge *Calm demeanor *Speaks fluent Hebrew *Lurking *Ladies Man *Is exceptional at darts *Commercial Semi Tractor-Trailer Driver Weaknesses Few, if any. *Fatigue *Overwhelming numbers *A significant lack of knowledge/experience in cutting edge technology *New Glasses can make his fighting look sloppy. *Can be slightly paranoid due to his spy/black-ops history Accomplishments *Helped liberate Croatia Notable Episodes Season 1 * "The Nigerian Job" * "The Wedding Job" * "The Two-Horse Job" Season 2 * "The Tap-out Job" * "The Order 23 Job" * "The Zanzibar Marketplace Job" * "The Three Strikes Job" Season 3 * "The Studio Job" * "The Gone Fishin' Job" * "The Underground Job" * "The Rashomon Job" Relationships with Other Characters Overall In the Family dynamic of the team, Eliot often plays the role of the oldest son. He is much more aware of the con than his "Siblings", Parker and Hardison. But overall, Eliot is the defender and enforcer of the team. He is quick to put his body between the others and sources of danger. Alec Hardison Eliot and Hardison clash often, in the first season they were rivals (Mind vs. Brawn). But as they both have developed an appreciation for the other's skills, they share more of a sibling rivalry. And Eliot does enjoy picking on Hardison. Eliot is often heard saying a catch phrase: "Dammit Hardison!" Parker Eliot treats Parker like a younger sister, in more ways than one. Eliot is often baffled by Parker's behavior, but at the same time is very protective of her. Sometime in Season 2, he helped train Parker in hand-to-hand mixed-martial-arts. Sophie Devereaux Here is where Eliot breaks away from the "Eldest Son" dynamic. The relationship of between Eliot and Sophie is not Mother to Son. The two operate more like peers. Sophie does like to press Eliot's buttons, especially in episodes like "The Reunion Job". When Sophie's absent for Season 2, Eliot starts to bridge the gap, which comes to fruit in "The Zanzibar Marketplace Job". Nathan Ford Eliot knows his place in the team. He also knows that Nate is the leader and brains of the team. But when Nate goes over the line, either he or Sophie calls him on it. Still, when Nate asks Eliot to put his body on the line, Eliot does not back down from the task. He claims on the first episode the reason for staying was to make sure Ford did not fall off the horse again. Other Characters Aimee Martin Eliot is a ladies man, and halfheartedly brags about his exploits. However, Aimee is one girl who got the closest, as he gave Aimee a "promise ring". That relationship was rekindled in "The Two-Horse Job" but nothing really came of it. In "The Studio Job", Eliot confesses that he promised to be there for her (presumably Aimee), but he also made the same promise to the United States Government; and ended up giving it to neither. Presumably, Eliot went to join the military, expecting Aimee to wait, and she couldn't. Trivia *According to Sterling's people, Eliot is wanted in five countries, including Myanmar, which has a half a million dollar bounty on his head. **According to Eliot, he has a price on his head in three countries. **Eliot also suspects he has a Fatwā. *Is in possession of a United States Air Marshall badge, which he has used on more than one occasion to get an air flight. *Dabbles in Chess. *His personal vehicle is a gray Chevy Silverado pickup truck. *Likes Apples, particularly, green ones. *When he was a child, he closed himself in a small, dark shed for a few days to get rid of his claustrophobia. *Grows his own food. *Hates beets. *Sleeps only 90 minutes a day. * Displays sympathy and anger in "The Order 23 Job" toward a young boy (Randy Trent) who is beaten by his father (Randall Trent). Though this might have indicated he suffered abuse when young, the DVD commentary for the episode revealed that his motivation for his actions is that he doesn't like people who beat children. *Taught Parker several Mixed-Martial Arts moves, allowing her to take on a more physical role in the team. *Eliot does not own a Television. *In High School, even though Eliot was the football team's quarterback, he took Home Economics. It is where he learned an appreciation about knives, and other things. *Previous girlfriends mentioned in the show (aside from Aimee Martin): a neurologist, a flight attendant, a Japanese police woman, "lots of models", and Kaye Lynn Gold. Character Background When asked about Eliot and his development, Christian Kane replied, : "Time goes on and Eliot's not the 'hired killer', if you will. You start to see that he's starting to give more and more of his heart to the team and the people he's helping, and at some point I know that's probably going to hurt him, to be honest with you. He's probably going to snap back to even worse than he was before." 1 At Con-Con 2010 during an actors' panel, Christian revealed that he based Eliot on B.A. Baracus from The A-Team. "I just decided he was gonna be pissed at everybody." For inspiration, he purchased the "iPity" application for his iPhone, which will play a random phrase by Baracus. Links * http://www.tnt.tv/series/leverage/characters/?contentId=41357 * http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0117022/ Spencer